Week in the life of…

Week34

17th – 23rd August

Benny and I ran another 2.5km this week. My ideal would be to wake up early, and head out, but, ummmm, I really, really like my sleep. With Jack being a little bit up and down in regards to waking up overnight, it’s nice for me to head out shortly after Jack’s in bed, obviously only when James is home though. I think both Ben and I need to ease into the running, both times so far I’ve come home with Benny trailing behind me on the lead.

We popped in to Nanny’s & Poppy’s on Friday afternoon after swimming, so that Jack could have his last hugs before they headed overseas.  I thought it would be interesting to see what new tricks Jack has by the time they get home – that Saturday he bit down on my finger and I could feel a rough spot, like sandpaper. However getting a photo of this new emergence was quite hard. Apparently babies don’t like you pulling their lips down and attempting to take photos of their gums! Sure enough, his left front bottom tooth had broken through and his right one was peaking through as well. Oh, and at swimming, Jack crawled the length of the floating mat! I was so proud! (Can you tell???)

Dad had one of his rare days off on the weekend. We finally managed to catch up with one of James’s work colleagues, and met baby Owen, after being in the world for 3 months already. We then drove over the West Gate and down into St Kilda. It was truly a beautiful winters day – the type you know that spring is just around the corner. The bay was flat, there was only a whisper of a breeze and the sidewalk was bustling with people walking their dogs, pushing the pram or riding their bikes. Jack had his first experience playing with sand, which went straight into his mouth.

Week in the life of…

Week33

10th – 16th August

I seemed to have more videos on my phone than images this week. Jack finally started crawling forward! We’ve been going backwards and around in circles, but now, when he’s after something, he can finally put one hand in front of the other, and head in the right direction. His crawling action has a bit of work to do. He trails a leg, I think mainly because he is still lazy, and has realised that it’s easier to sit up when he gets to where he wanted to be. He is also able to sit himself up now as well!

In other news Jack’s passport arrived! As I write this, we’re 67 days away from our trip. I think we have all our accommodation now booked, just need to book our internal flights and car hire.

Ben and I headed out for a run for the first time in a bit. Poor Benny – he was lagging behind as we ran into our street and he flopped down on the cold tiles and was basically comatose for the entire rest of the evening. I love running late at night, especially on the cold nights, when the streets are quiet, your breath is foggy, and when you can see the steam come off your dog. Ben runs on a mission – he knows when I lace up my running shoes and grabs his lead, what is going on. When we head out the drive, he grabs the lead in his mouth, and he’s off. He may stop for a sniff at the start, but after that, not even another dog will break his concentration. Instead of  being super excited and wanting to play with any dogs he encounters, he watches and just keeps on running. Hopefully a few more runs together and we’ll both be at a better fitness level.

Nanny came and watched Jack at his swimming lesson on Friday. A spare pair of hands is a godsend when you deal with a squirming, wet, little boy, and you also have to try and dry yourself. Jack didn’t have a long morning nap, so while he can normally last for the length of Liam’s lesson before heading home, he fell asleep in the car while I was still talking to Leanne.  Jeff came over for what seems to be a regular ‘Kebab Friday’ while James is away and working.

On Saturday we walked to the park and tested out the new pram that I’ll take with us to the states. It should be fine to do the job – Jack seemed quite at home and comfortable, and allegedly it’s small enough to fit into (some) overhead plane bins. So I took the camera and the picnic rug and let Jack have a play outside. Some of the photos are below. We were even lucky enough to have the sun grace us for a portion of the afternoon.

On Sunday Nan, Jack, Megan, Liam & I ventured to Flemington Market. I bought a new pair of pants and a dummy clip from a favourite store, Button Kids (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Button-Kids/). We may have sampled the coffee and  a few edibles along the way.

We all went out for dinner to Squires Loft in Williamstown, before Nanny and Poppy head overseas for the next few weeks. Jack had a great time knocking all his toy cups all over the floor, eating steak, prawns and chips and generally loving being the centre of attention. It will be interesting to see what new tricks Jack has when they get home.

Week in the life of…

Week32

3rd – 9th August

We’ve been spending most evenings researching and finalising our accommodation for our US holidays. We’ve booked Chicago, Pittsburgh, Niagara Falls and Orlando. We’re still looking at Miami and figuring out where we want to stay in LA. As that is something that both James and I sit down to do, I haven’t gotten around to posting this sooner.

This week Jack had fun going down the slide and playing with the fake grass in the new kids play section at Waterstones Cafe. The cafe is quite nice, close to home, coffee is always good and the menu has some great options. At first Jack wasn’t too sure about the slide and held on the side, but after the first time going down, went down with a massive smile on his face, each time.

Jack was allowed to sit at the dining table like a big boy when we went out for dinner to the Plough Hotel in Footscray with Bec. The lovely waitress gave Jack a comfy cushion to support him in the highchair, and he was enthralled with being at the table. He was happy chewing on the table, sharing lots of smiles, and being fed food by Dad. He had chips and ice cream – I had tried so hard to limit his exposure to chips.

Megan, Liam, Jack and I ventured over to Highpoint on Thursday. We wandered around and attempted to not buy anything. On a plus, we did reach our daily steps! Jack and I went to Altona to Nan and Poppy’s house for dinner, before heading over to Laureen’s and seeing great Nan Shirley.

Jack was lucky enough to share a big bath with dad. He loves bath time, and the more water, the better it is for splashing! Most nights now, the blind, the walls and the floor end up saturated from Jack’s overenthusiastic splashing!

Week in the life of…

Week31

27th July – 2nd August

Gaahhh I’m so behind in doing this weeks one, well last weeks round up, really.

Getting excited about our trip to the states later in the year – we’ve basically decided to throw out all our old plans of revisiting LA, Vegas and venturing into Texas. Instead we’re heading to Chicago, Pittsburgh, Buffalo & Niagara Falls, Orlando (maybe Miami) and then finishing in LA. Planning a trip and counting down used to be the exciting part, and would hype you up. Now with Jack in tow, I’m more concerned. Concerned about travelling all those hours in a plane with an 11 month old, concerned about navigating our way around with a baby – it makes shuttles, and taxis, and transport in general just that little bit harder. Do we take a pram, do we buy a little travel pram, how do we go with car seats, car hire??? The list is endless. All the things that in our honeymoon trip, we didn’t have to contend with.

This week we visited Saltwater Coast, had breakfast in their cafe, walked the fitness circuit around the park, while Jeff demonstrated some of the exercises and checked out the new park that looks like it will be opening soon! Parks and playground equipment have come a long way since I was a kid. We had boring metal and general slides, swings, and climbing apparatus. The new park had landscaped gardens, splashy water features perfect for summer, and colourful themed play equipment. Will be adding that park to the (mental) list that I have compiled in my drive by’s of all the parks in close vicinity to home.

Jack and I also had breakfast with Nan at Alamanda Cafe this week. He loves sitting up at the table, banging away, looking around and watching all the other kids in the cafe.  Jeff and I also took Benny for a walk around Apex park and in the off lead dog section. While I’m overly cautious of him off lead, he behaved himself and even ran up, over-enthusiastically, to 2 grogeous Great Danes. He ended up covered in slobber, but wasn’t at all scared by their size.

Jack received a swimming certificate this week – in recognition of his ‘fantastic kicking legs’ – one very proud mummy here! He’s also attempting to pull himself up onto his knees to reach all the buttons on his walker. So maybe in the not so distant future, he might be attempting to pull himself up and walk along the furniture. With Dad away in Perth for the second last road trip of the Ice Hockey season, I made Jack pancakes. When James and I would travel from Perth to home, the Virgin Lounge in Perth had a broken pancake machine, and each subsequent trip, we would race in and hope that the machine had been fixed. I think after a full year, we still hadn’t seen the pancake machine. So, once again, Dad missed out on pancakes, but Jack and I got to eat (all of) them!

It would have also been my mums 60th birthday on the 27th of July! Forever 48, always loved and missed – Happy Birthday!

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